I apologize in advance because I know I will probably stir up some controversy with my comments but I feel it should be said. “What is your BIG Hurry?” Sure 20 miles a day doable, and if your sense of accomplishment is tied to distance traveled; this is probably a great trip. Let me explain my way of canoe camping. I like to Start early, perhaps 10 AM and travel late till 2 PM or so. I hear you thinking “Wow that guy really starts really Late and stops really Early. Where can he go in only 4 hours? The answer is about 6 miles. My point is that once you are a portage or two beyond Rt. 60, the park looks mostly the same so why rush through it just to cover more distance? When I am in the park I Do get up at sunrise, I Do paddle slowly along the shoreline looking for wildlife, I do take lots of pictures of everything and nothing. The point is I am there to challenge my senses, relax and enjoy myself. The park and mother nature has a way of providing all the challenge I need without setting time and distance hurdles to be overcome as well.
With such a leisurely schedule I have plenty of time to seize upon opportunities as they present themselves and they ALWAYS do if you are open to them and observant. I recall watching beavers working on a dam for well over two hours and marveling at what a incredible piece of engineering it was rather viewing it as just another blockade to my progress. By stopping extra early I get a better selection of campsites as well as chance to go swimming. fishing, or just lay in my hammock and watch others hurry by on there quest to get in just one more lake before they have to quit. The early voyagers had a goal of traveling as fast and as far as they could every day to reach their destination. Most of our lives still center around achieving goas, but distance traveled in the park should not be one of them. Time to explore. time to observe, time to just be still and let nature come to you. To me this is far more rewarding than covering longer distances.
Since I have plenty of extra time I am less likely to try risky behavior like racing an approaching storm across a large lake, just to keep on a tight schedule. If I do get behind a day, either due to bad weather or by choice I can easily catch up and not be perpetually one day behind for most of the trip. Sometimes I actually get one day ahead if my 4 hours of travel turned out to be only two hours. The goal in the park should not be measured in distance traveled per day but what was seen felt and shared by you or the group.
Portages should not be viewed as obstacles to be crossed as quickly as possible but as paths into the forest that is the heart of the park. Take time to walk at least one direction looking for animal tracks in the soft soil, scratch marks on the trees, and myriads of different flowers, plants and trees that go to make up even a single acre of forest. Yes I am encouraging double portages because one misses SO much when only walking around with a canoe on your head just so you can “see” more of the park? The park is too special of a place to be hurried through. If you want more physical challenge try more of the Black line routes but still take time to see what is around you. Try spotting animals Before they spot you. So by traveling a lot slower pace am I missing something or are you, by planning a trip that requires a significant portion of each day be spent traveling?

Hi Bill

There are definitely different adventures for different folks (to reword an old adage).

Personally, I'm even more at the "rest and relaxation" end of the "trip spectrum" than you. With only small time slots (Monday - Friday) at my disposal, 60 years under my belt and a few health issues .. I'm becoming more and more prone to getting a few portages into the park and then setting-up camp and day-tripping in the vicinity.

Between my extreme and that of more energetic "big-trippers", there's a whole spectrum of "Algonquin Adventures" that one can have. I like the "rest and relaxation" credo .. specially more so as the years roll by. However, I recognize that there are definite needs for many to "get as far away as possible from the rat race" and to "test one's metal". I can remember having those feelings myself and can't fault anyone for having those needs.

Algonquin provides satisfaction and fulfillment to so many different needs .. solitude, communion with nature, peace and quiet, exploration, changing horizons .. all genuine appreciations of what Algonquin has to offer .. all real Algonquin Adventures!

So maybe Bill, if we can all recognize that there are "different strokes" and "different adventures" for different folks, we won't raise too much angst.

In closing, I think that while a lot of us start out in life as "testing our metal" and end up enjoying the "rest and relaxation", that "sequence of events" is definitely not chiseled in stone.

Barry Bridgeford
(central York Region)

Bill,

No apology necessary! I think Barry's response really does cover all potential differences of opinion or preferences of style, but I expect your post was not "aimed" at me but more "directed" at my recent post in Heidi's request for route information.

I think you are right on in your perspective of one way to enjoy the park in a deeper, more gratifying sense. In fact, the reason we beat ourselves on the first day by traveling 20 miles (maybe a little more or less), is so that the rest of the trip is a leisurely fishing adventure. As an example, our May 2008 trip found us getting dropped off by the water taxi at the Happy Isle portage at 6:30am and we eventually made it to our campsite on Burntroot at 8:30pm. We would have been there around 3pm or 4pm but the wind blowing across Big Trout made me rethink crossing loaded with gear and in a canoe that doesn't handle big waves very well. We passed the 4 or 5 hours we spent on an island by doing some fishing, taking a nap, cooking our dinner of steaks and potatoes and watching other canoes go across the water that I felt was too dangerous to risk my life crossing. We were actually setting up camp when the wind died down and we decided to finish our journey to get to Burntroot.

The next 3 days we were up about an hour before sunrise and we'd be in the canoe fishing at first light. We would liesurely troll along shorelines for many hours with stops on nearly every empty campsite we would pass...just to check out for amenities and compare for future reference. We then would have our large meal of the day on one of those sites and continue canoeing and fishing until we finally would return to our site at 8 or 9pm in the evening. We'd explore streams, rivers, historic sites and a plethora of wildlife sightings in our roughly 10 or 12 miles of daily travel and then be back on our base camp for a nightcap and short fire to warm our weary bones. The entire reason we travel so far on the first and last day is to get into a remote part of the park where the pressure isn't as high for our fishing/camping enjoyment.

I certainly agree that much of the park looks similar...I'd often remark to my partner "Oh boy, another gorgeous shoreline" in a deadpan tone as a joke to refer to how familiar we become with spectacular surroundings. However, the lakes that are easy to get to are often characterized by signs of human misuse or overuse...garbage along portages and campsites, heavily used sites with little firewood nearby, small fish that are few and far between, many neighbors with noise and campfires dotting your view, nails in trees, hatchet marks and stumps, etc. I prefer to limit my exposure to those scenarios by getting out past them as quickly as possible.

So, while Barry's response of "to each his own" is dead on, don't think for a moment that every group you see plowing away at the water to advance towards a goal is missing the boat...I think our goal is quite similar to yours but we just go about it in a different manner! Thank you for sharing your perspective...there will come a day when I travel in that same or similar manner, especially when traveling with people who are new to the park and we're on a summer tour. But for now, when it comes to the spring fishing trips, I like to get deep into the interior as quickly as possible to maximize my exposure to the interior lakes.

Hi Bill

Isn't that the way the park should be enjoyed tho.
I know exactly what your saying and share the same opinion. We do travel early but not because we race but beacuse of the chance to paddle slow and view the morning in all it's glory.

We love portaging, to us its one of the best parts of the trip. We don't stop at the canoe rests or race to get to the end. We walk as far as we feel comfortable and drop our packs off the side of the trail in a nice spot, then have a rest and return to get our canoe.

I've nearly been run over by so many ignorant and disrespectful people on the trail. We always move off the trail and allow others to pass and in all our travels I can count on one hand the times someone has said "no Please go on thru".

Sure we've challenged ourselves (in the begining). I'm way overweight (built like a true short legged barrel chested Scotsman) LOL and the looks I get are funny. Seems like people rush away from thinking I'm going to have a heart attack at any moment LMAO .Not to forget to mention that I sweat a like fountain lol.

I found your views very refreshing and I was compelled to add a few notes of my own.

Thanx For Sharing

MikeL

Thank you for another point of view. Although I've tripped a few times, those trips were all planned by my folks when I was a kid. Now I'm one of the adults planning a trip for my kids (and my folks, too).

The first thing I did was order the canoe route map from the park website. Their map recommends traveling 5-8 inches of map distance per day. With this in mind, I tried to plan around 5-ish inches a day (figuring we wanted to take our time a bit and that we wanted to enjoy the trip with the kids).

Portages to us aren't obstacles, really. We will likely be double-tripping them. But, they're not the most fun part of the trip to us, either (I tend to be an absolute mosquito magnet, and tend to find all of them in the woods more than on the water). And if I wanted to spend my time backpacking, I'd be on the Appalachian trail, not in Algonquin. I'd rather spend more time paddling.

I like the traveling. I like knowing that we're trekking further into the interior each day. I don't want this to be a marathon or miserable. But even on car trips, we like to keep moving, allowing for those random stops at "Dinoland" or whatever other attraction catches our eye. We canoe the same way. I remember spending a good 45 minutes pointing out carnivorous plants to my mom and dad (we'd just covered that unit in school right at the end of the year before our trip). So, while we like the traveling, we're observant and tuned into stopping and enjoying.

So, I guess we're a "some of each" kind of tripper. And PaPaddler ... I have to agree with your explanation ... rushing a bit on the more "civilized" ends of the trip into order to get to the more unspoiled sections of the park.

I plan to spend a good 10-12 days on this trip next year (including the 12-hour drive each way from NJ), and I think we can still stop and smell the roses while traveling through quite a few km of rivers and lakes.

--Heidi

I have know problem with those who like to rest and relax. I personally like to be on the water by 7:00am and paddle and portage for 7 or 8 hours. I enjoy the paddling and portaging. It still gives me time to get a "good" campsite and enjoy all things around.

Interesting perspectives…
To be honest I couldn’t fathom a trip to Algonquin where I wasn’t traveling 10 or more hours a day. I find it extremely enjoyable and exciting to paddle & portage all day, seeing how far I can push myself. Frankly, I wouldn’t enjoy tripping any other way.
The goal one of these years is to travel the entire boundary of the park in a single trip.

On a side note, I’m surprised some of you have said the “park looks mostly the same”.
I’ve always found a huge contrast between the northern half of the park and the southern end.
Likewise, going down the Petawawa is a drastic change from going down the Nipissing River or through larger lakes.

I also find the north and the south of the park quite different. More rocks, cliffs in the southern part.

My comment of "park looks mostly the same" is because I've not been to the northern extremes. I've only gone as far north as Burntroot and Lavieille so I must confess ignorance on the appearance of the northern sections. Not that I don't want to visit those portions some day but, like Heidi, driving 11 hours to reach the southern end of the park makes the extra 3 or 4 hours even more difficult to drive around to the top end! Once the kids are grown and gone I hope to take my bride through the park from south to north and back again on a 10 or more day trip. Hopefully I'll be physically able at age 50 or so!

Also, I knew the phrase was too limiting but do see some accuracy in it based upon what I've seen of the park so far. It's all beautiful, so in that respect, it "looks the same"!

I love the diversity of this community!!! I am learning so much from all of you.
I agree with Barry, "different strokes for different folks" as they say. As a tripper of 24 years the focus of my trips has changed over the years...Never mind over the years...Over any given summer! I love variety! Michele (my tripping partner) and I save trips just for the two of us (no guests or newbees that might complain about how hard it is) where we challenge the heck out of ourselves, stretch the limits, do our own personal "eco-challenge" (there are stories are lies...ah, stories to tell). We use these trips as metaphores for life and it's challenges. Once back in our "everyday" life we can say the name of one particular portage or lake and instantly find the motivation to stand up and face the challenges of the day.
Other trips reflect more of Bill's view. Trips where we want nothing to do with challenging ourselves. On these trips our "goal" is to see the little things along the way. Other trips we "challenge" ourselves to 24 hours of no talking/silence (believe it or not this is hard to do unless on a solo paddle). The bottomline is that ALL of it is amazing and beautiful. I know from each of you on this community I will gain new perspective and learn so much try on your view of our lovely Lady Algonquin.
Thanks!...Your new and passionate member of the community!!!
Giselle

It's all contextual isn't it. I think Giselle hit it! I know I can land the worst site on the lake and still have an awesome time. So much of the experience is about the trip plan, the objective and most importantly, in my view, the people you are with. It is not like an all inclusive to the DR where there are all kinds of variables. I know I can have a good time regardless of the weather. I always say to my wife, at that point in the portage or that late day paddle against the wind, at least we are not ________, (our least enjoyable professional activity). It completely changes the perspective. It is all about choice and the fact the park was created in the first place is the reason we have a choice to begin with. Paddle on folks.. at whatever pace suits your fancy.

It's totally a personal preference thing. I do both. This May we (two of us) were averaging 20km/day with one 30km day. This weekend I'll be going 10km and hanging out for a day.

What's the difference? There's the feeling of accomplishment for having logged the miles. It's something to do for the day, a day is long if you're not doing anything. There are things to see and places to go that require you to be able to get there. One more portage away from access points is that much more solitude. When I get near the middle of the park and up to a height of land, I really feel on top of the world.

Yes to one extent it can all look the same. Do a couple trips across the park (N/S & E/W), you'll see that it ain't necesarilly so. Big lakes, little lakes, wide rivers, narrow creeks, white water, pine forests, mixed forests.

Nobody should be telling you how to enjoy the park except with the laws, personal safety and respect for the land in mind. I do find that some people are adamant about their 'right' to neglect their personal safety. I wonder how many of them would refuse help if this neglect requires the assistance of other campers. Respect for the land boils down to Leave No Trace ethics. I don't want to be dealing with someone's nailtree fetish or garbage.

Otherwise, enjoy your trips!

despite the fact that I haven't backcountry tripped yet, my plans for my first trip next year vary, most of them are destination and lazing about/daytripping. On an ideal trip, I would travel for a day, rest/explore for a day, then travel a day, rest/explore etc. so that I could have some rest and relaxation, but change the scenery; the best of both worlds. One of my ideas includes a trip through Rock Lake where I would first travel to Pen lake, then sleep there for three nights, having two day to fish and explore, then I would travel to Welcome Lake, stay there for three nights, catch-and-release fishing on that lake and exlporing the neighbouring area, and then spend two nights on Louisa, and then I would go back to Rock Lake, giving an afternoon to look at the new historical exhibit. With this trip, I would have the best of both worlds, so that I don't have to choose one type or the other.

That's my two cents

Trainman
Take everything as it comes; the wave passes, deal with the next one. -Tom Thomson

Hmmm..

The only real hurry I have is for ice out after winter


Long or far distance and/or day , we do both

Sometimes 20 miles and some times less than 5

I tend to prefer base camping as farther day trips are then doable
but that means missing the evening at the far end as one must return to base. Day starts now when my buddy tempts me out of the tent with coffee.

Hard to do a trip like Canoe to Cedar as a turtle when time is limited
but the hare is known to sometimes nap on route ( noon naps are GREAT)



To each his own.. your only competition is you.
BE a turtle or BE a hare..
one never knows who has the most enjoyment except you




Rac n

We have been alternating year to year. One time is aggressive and the next is a sit and day trip. I like both!

Personally, right now I love to push it as fast as I can to get to my
destination campsite. Sometimes this means only a big breakfast and munchies along the way. This gives me more time for my favourite pastime (OK...second favourite pastime..hahahaha).........FISHING FISHING FISHING FISHING FISHING!!!!!!

Did I mention I LOVE TO FISH!!!!!


Bo